Rin Reczek, Professor of Sociology at Ohio State University
Dr. Rin Reczek, Professor of Sociology at the Ohio State University, is a sociologist, social demographer, and feminist scholar who has published over 60 articles and book chapters on the topics of marriage, parent-child ties, parenthood, gender, sexuality, and health. Rin’s recent book, “Families We Keep,” how and why LGBTQ adults keep their ties with their problematic parents.
Abstract for talk: There is no “till death do us part” vow between parents and children. And yet, parent-adult child relationships are far more enduring than the marital relationships that made this phrase famous, with relatively few adult children and parents reporting estrangement. This intergenerational imperative persists even when parent-adult child relationships are unsatisfactory or even deeply damaging, as is sometimes the case when an adult child is LGBTQ. Drawing on interviews with seventy-six LGBTQ adults and forty-four of their parents, this talk gives a sociological account for why even the most difficult intergenerational ties persist—and why some shouldn’t.
Reczik Spring Colloquium Poster 4_22_22